Good Riddance, 2016

[EasyAce]

By George F. Will
http://www.nationalreview.com/article/443439/2016-awful-year-review

Viewing 2016 in retrospect — doing so is unpleasant, but less so than was living through it — the year resembles
a china shop after a visit from an especially maladroit bull. Because a law says, “The state of California may not sell or
display the Battle Flag of the Confederacy . . . or any similar image,” a painting of the 1864 Siege of Atlanta was banned
from display at the Fresno County fair. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services churned out a 25-page policy
statement about “the systematic inclusion of families in activities and programs that promote children’s development,
learning, and wellness.” That is, government should provide, as an act of grace — systematic grace — a role for parents
in raising their children.

Let freedom ring, in the nooks and crannies of the administrative state: One day a year — Lemonade Day — children in
Austin, Texas, can sell the stuff without spending $460 on various fees, licenses, and permits. Twelve-year olds in a Tampa
middle school, learning about “how much privilege” they have, were asked if they were “Cisgendered,” “Transgendered,” or
“Genderqueer.” Two years after Emma was the most common name given to baby American girls, the trend was toward
supposedly gender-neutral baby names (e.g., Lincoln, Max, Arlo) lest the child feel enslaved to stereotypes. A New Jersey
mother says a police officer interrogated her nine-year-old son after he was suspected of a racial slur when he talked about
brownies, the baked good. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission pondered whether a worker committed racial
harassment by wearing a cap emblazoned with the Gadsden flag (depicting a coiled rattlesnake, with the words “Don’t Tread
on Me”). A University of Iowa professor complained that the Hawkeyes’ mascot, Herky, a fierce bird, is “conveying an invitation
 to aggressivity and even violence” that is discordant with the “all accepting, nondiscriminatory messages we are trying to convey.”

As President’s Day approached, San Diego advised city workers to use “bias-free language” by avoiding the phrase “Founding
Fathers.” A National Park Service employee giving guided tours of Independence Hall in Philadelphia told tourists that the
Declaration of Independence and Constitution were produced by “class elites who were just out to protect their privileged
status.” The employee praised herself for her “bravery.” The NBA, which plays preseason games in China, home of forced
abortions and organ harvests, moved its 2017 All-Star Game from Charlotte because of North Carolina’s law stipulating that
transgender individuals should use bathrooms appropriate to their physiology.

At Washington’s refurbished Watergate Hotel, the message on room-key cards reads “No Need to Break In.” The New York
Times reported the downside of humanity’s mastery of fire: “Figuring out how to make fire was no doubt an evolutionary boon
to our ancestors. But it may have led to our smoking habit.” Facing a budget shortfall in 2010, New York’s legislature raised
the cigarette tax $1.60 to $4.35 per pack, expecting, illogically, that it would discourage smoking and raise $290 million
annually. By 2016, cigarette revenues had fallen 25 percent and smuggled cigarettes held 58 percent of the New York
market.

By 2016, six years after the president’s wife agitated for federal guidelines limiting sodium, sugar, fats, and calories in
school lunches, 1.4 million students had exited the National School Lunch Program, and students had a robust black market
in salt and sugar. A tweet with the hashtag #ThanksMichelleObama said, “The first lady can have a personal chef, but I
can’t have two packets of ketchup?” After Connecticut imposed its fifth tax increase since 2011, General Electric moved
its headquarters from there to Boston. CKE Restaurants includes the Carl’s Jr. chain, which was founded in California and
ignited the fast-food industry. CKE announced that it was moving its headquarters from California (highest income-tax
rate: 13 percent) to Tennessee (highest income-tax rate: zero).

Congress considered bills to prevent the IRS from hiring or retaining people delinquent in their tax payments. Unions
in New York and California lobbied for exemption from the $15 minimum wage they had lobbied for. It was splendidly
appropriate that when Cuba buried the architect of its ramshackle socialism, the vehicle carrying Castro’s ashes broke
down and had to be pushed by soldiers. “Thou swell, thou witty, thou sweet, thou grand” were not lyrics that many
Americans sang about either presidential candidate, but one of them had to win, so as you steel yourself for 2017,
remember H. L. Mencken’s timeless wisdom: A martini is “the only American invention as perfect as the sonnet.”

The best news of 2016:


The (repeat and rejoice, Cub Country) world champion Chicago Cubs.

The worst news of 2016, if you don't count the preponderance of deaths (you knew it was a grotesque year when it
couldn't even bow out without the graceless to claim the life of the actor who played the gently firm company priest
on M*A*S*H): There was a presidential election in the United States. And, somebody had to win it.
Proving that Mr. Mencken was also right about democracy. It really is the theory that the common people know what
they want and deserve to get it, good and hard.

[montanajoe]

I was thinking about 2016 this evening. Actually it was a good year for me and my family. The election cycle was the worst in memory but I made a conscious effort not to let it into our families life. I found this forum which satisfied my urge to complain about the idiot politicians but I am once again amazed by how little the politicians of either party influence my life. 

[EasyAce]

I was thinking about 2016 this evening. Actually it was a good year for me and my family. The election cycle was the worst in memory but I made a conscious effort not to let it into our families life. I found this forum which satisfied my urge to complain about the idiot politicians but I am once again amazed by how little the politicians of either party influence my life. 

For me personally it was a good year---if you didn't count that the year's death toll included
my favourite aunt, whose husband was also my favourite uncle. They were second parents
to me after my father died in my boyhood, and they died a year apart from each other.
Well advanced in age they were but the loss still stung. And still does.

As for the politicians of either party, I agree with you.